Disclaimer: I don't own any of the SVU characters. All matters pertaining to SVU are owned by Dick Wolf or their respective creators.

A/N: Thank you, lovelies! Your support for me with this story means the world to me. I wrote this while watching Loss, so I'm sorry if I missed any mistakes. Somehow I made it updating two weeks in a row!

They really had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

No amount of preparation could have prepared Olivia and Alex for what they were about to experience. It was a dangerous place they were headed to, but it was too late to turn back. Olivia allowed her mind to think back to some of the crime scenes she had witnessed in her years on the force. They hadn't seemed peaceful at the time, but in a moment she would have been wishing to be there instead. She had seen the movies, but never imagined things could be as horrific as what she was met with at the door.

"Hello, neighbors!" Alex jumped at the startling greeting, and Olivia squeezed her hand just a little tighter. They were met by not only one, but three overly-peppy squealing women upon their arrival.

'Oh dear God, they're multiplying,' Olivia thought as she was pulled into a side air kiss—something she had always regarded as one of the fakest greetings of all time. She looked them over, each seeming to be in nearly identical floral sundresses. It was as if she'd entered into a neighborhood of cyborgs.

The worst of it all was, perhaps, that Alex was dressed just like them. She flashed her a knowing look and held in a chuckle, not sure exactly what to make of the coincidence. At least they were blending in.

"I must say, it certainly is nice to have people like you two in the neighborhood now," a yet-to-be-named woman with red hair chirped as Alex and Olivia were led through the house to the backyard where the picnic was being held.

Alex was confused by the question and asked, "People like us?" Was this woman trying to say she knew who they really were? That they were hiding from their would-be murderer? Alex felt the familiar panic begin to set in as all the possible meanings of the statement ran through her head like wildfire.

"Kelly, that is so rude. I'm sure they get that all the time," Cindy said to the woman apparently named Kelly.

'Well this is going well,' Olivia thought sarcastically. She was equally as confused as Alex about Kelly's statement, though.

The women looked around the house, taking in the decorations that fit Cindy Paxton perfectly. Over the mantle was a large painting of a fluffy white cat, and the wall to their right consisted of many shelves filled with trophies and awards from varied events—mostly country club related. The entrance to the backyard was through a sliding glass door in the kitchen, leading out onto a nice sized porch.

"I was just welcoming them, Cindy," Kelly said in the same verging on whining tone she had been using since they arrived. "It's not like we get a lot of them around here."

"Excuse me?" Olivia said. She wished they would just spit out whatever they were trying to say already. It didn't seem possible that these women could get much more annoying, but they just kept surprising her.

"You know, women like you two who… like women," Kelly whispered the ending, as if saying that louder would have made things any more awkward. Olivia gawked at them, shocked that they were even talking about her relationship with Alex to them like that. She wanted to say something, well actually, she wanted to say a lot of things, but didn't get the chance as she was quickly cut off by Cindy.

"Emily, Julie, I need to introduce you to everyone," Cindy said as they reached the backyard. Alex looked around for whoever Emily and Julie could be before recalling that they were Olivia and herself. She flashed a fake smile, hoping her confusion hadn't been noticed.

"Oh, of course," Alex said with a fake smile. She saw the determined look on Olivia's face and leaned in to whisper to her as the women momentarily turned to call their husbands over. "Just let it go, please?" Alex pleaded, wanting the day to go as smoothly as possible so it could just be over with.

Olivia sighed with a resigned look and briefly nodded, not wanting to do anything to add any more stress to the blonde.

"Well, you've already met Jim," Cindy said, gesturing to the familiar guy manning the grill a few yards away. He looked up and gave a small smile before returning to his masterpiece. "And this is Kelly and her husband Broc," she added, referring to the same redhead from earlier and a burly man that came up to stand behind her. "And Jenna and her husband Tom," she finished with the last blonde woman and scrawnier man.

"Nice to meet you all," Alex said with her best lawyer smile. "I'm Emily, and this is my wife, Julie."

Just then a small child buzzed by from inside the house, nearly knocking the two women over.

"Michael, what have I told you about running in the house!" Cindy yelled at the young boy as he continued to tear towards a large pool.

"I'm not, mom! That's the porch."

"Just, slow down! And apologize to Emily and Julie for almost knocking them over!" Cindy ordered.

"Sorry!" he shouted before plunging into the water without a second thought.

"Ugh, kids!" Cindy said with a laugh, the other two women chiming in.

"I didn't know you had children," Olivia said with a smile, looking at about 7 kids around the pool area.

"Oh yes, we all do," the woman named Jenna added with a smile.

"That must be lovely," Alex said.

"Oh, it is, most of the time." And again the women all laughed while Alex and Olivia awkwardly smiled at them as if equally amused.

"You have such big backyards around here, I'm sure they love it," Olivia said, looking around curiously. Having a yard was something she had never experienced in New York growing up, but had always been curious about.

"Oh, didn't you have one back in Connecticut?" Cindy asked, confused. Connecticut wasn't much like the city they were used to.

Olivia froze for a moment, realizing her mistake. This really was turning out to be much harder than she had anticipated. Having a different identity didn't just erase everything she already knew, and she couldn't keep forgetting that. Olivia feared it would eventually bite one of them in the ass if a slip-up too big happened.

"We did," Alex quickly chimed in. "Just never had any use for it." Her excuse was mild, at best, but the women all seemed to buy it without qualm.

Nobody knowing what exactly to say, an awkward silence seemed to take over the group for a moment. Cindy, not being one for quiet, changed the subject.

"Emily, I absolutely love your dress!" she squealed in delight.

Olivia stifled a laugh at the comment, knowing Alex must have absolutely hated being told that. It had taken enough convincing earlier that people wouldn't wear business suits to picnics; Olivia would never let her live this down.

"Oh, thank you," Alex managed to say, desperate to keep the cringe from her face.

"You must tell us where you got it," Kelly added.

And it was off. The women delved into what, to them, was a fascinating conversation about dresses. There was no way for Alex to escape it, but Olivia saw her chance when the men began to meander back to their earlier place at the grill.

Olivia knew Alex would be angry at her later, but the thought of escaping from the peppy women was just too tempting to the former-detective. She flashed a smile at Jim, walking towards him. The ladies, aside from Alex, never seemed to even notice the disappearance of her presence as they continued their conversation on sundresses.

"Hey, Jim. So, you're the barbeque king around here?" Olivia asked as she neared the guys.

"That I am," he said proudly, earning a laugh from one of his buddies.

"So he likes to think," the guy, earlier identified as Tom, added.

"Well, it looks great," Olivia said seriously. She hadn't realized how starving she was until she was close enough to smell the delicious barbeque.

"Good, it shouldn't be too much longer," Jim said, turning to flip something.

"Julie, right?" Tom asked. Olivia nodded. "Want a beer?"

"Sure," Olivia said, relieved to hear those words. Maybe the picnic wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

Tom reached in to a cooler and brought out a nice, cool bottle to hand Olivia. She took it graciously, biting the cap off effortlessly.

"A girl with some muscle, I like that. It's refreshing," Broc said, clearly impressed by Olivia's bottle opening skills.

She laughed and took a swig. "Don't have many strong women around here?" Olivia asked, already figuring that was the case from the way their wives acted.

The men trailed off into a conversation about sports, Olivia soon finding ground to easily join in. Meanwhile, Alex was over in her own interesting conversation with the ladies.

"So I was just so embarrassed. I mean, who wears white after Labor Day?" Kelly said as the other women laughed.

Alex couldn't believe the company she was in. No, she could, they were a lot like the women she had grown up around that attended her mother's soirees, right down to the glasses of wine. She looked enviously at Olivia's beer across the yard, wishing she could have one instead of the wine she had been handed. Not that Alex disliked wine, but after the last few days it just didn't seem fitting.

She would have just asked for a beer, but after the women had made a big deal about how proper ladies drink wine, she didn't dare. There was one thing she was certain about, though, and that was that Olivia would pay for leaving her alone with them.

LOSSLOSSLOSSLOSS

It was already dark out when they returned home, both equally happy to be able to be themselves again. Olivia, after double checking that she had locked the front doors, walked over and flopped down on their couch. "Ugh, well that was a long day."

"Really? I much enjoyed conversing with the other ladies about the appropriate occasions to wear sundresses to. I think I'll just give up on business suits altogether and switch to them," Alex said in a familiar peppy voice.

"Very funny, Alex," Olivia laughed, patting the couch next to her for the blonde to take a seat.

"What's funny? That people like us would want to wear dresses?" Alex asked, still speaking just like Cindy.

"Okay, knock it off. Haven't you had enough of that for one day," Olivia said in mock annoyance while smiling at her wife.

"Stop what? While you were off having a beer with the guys, I was being invited on what sounds like a thrilling shopping trip," Alex continued, but finally sat down.

Olivia hopped up and went to the kitchen without a word, leaving Alex alone and confused on the couch. Just as she was about to follow, Olivia returned with two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. She sat down and handed one to Alex quickly.

"Here, drink this, I want my wife back," Olivia mused.

Alex just laughed and took a happy swig of the beer, sighing in relief. "Much better," the blonde said, finally relaxing against the couch by Olivia.

Olivia tried to cuddle closer, but Alex just gave her a harsh look.

"I'm sorry I left you alone with them," Olivia said before jutting out her bottom lip slightly. She knew even Alex couldn't resist it.

Alex just smiled and kissed Olivia's cheek. "Okay, you're forgiven. But only because I now have a beer in my hand!" she exclaimed jokingly. For the night, they enjoyed each other's company, both knowing the next day they could very well not be as lucky.